''Mi amigo Hugo'' is a Venezuelan
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
documentary produced by Venezuelan national broadcaster
TeleSur and directed by the US-American
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
, a friend of
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez FrÃas (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...
, about the late
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
after his death.
Production
The documentary is a short look at the intimate life of Chávez, featuring interviews with his family, friends, and other Latin American politicians. Stone features in much of the film, conversing and embracing Chávez around different sites in Venezuela, with other notable people, like
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
,
Nicolás Maduro
Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, with his presidency under dispute since 2019.
Beginning his working life as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade unio ...
,
José Vicente Rangel
José Vicente Rangel Vale (10 July 1929 – 18 December 2020) was a Venezuelan politician and journalist. He ran for president three times in the 1970s and 1980s and later supported Hugo Chávez. He served under Chávez as Minister of Foreign A ...
, and
ElÃas Jaua
ElÃas José Jaua Milano (born 16 December 1969) is a Venezuelan politician and former university professor who serves as the Minister of Education of Venezuela. He served as the vice president of Venezuela from January 2010 to October 2012 and ha ...
, making smaller appearances.
The film was first shown on TeleSur on the first anniversary of Chávez' death, 5 March 2014.
Analysis
Cory Franklin, editorial member of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' and ''
Washington Examiner
The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is ow ...
'', calls director Stone "Chavez's most ardent cheerleader" (''
sic
The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any e ...
''), and describes the film as "worshipful" towards the leader and a "fulsome love
paean
A paean () is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice (monody). It comes from the Greek παιάν (also παΠ...
"; it concludes that the film is
cringeworthy, particularly in retrospect.
Jeffrey Tayler was critical of the film because he believed it would give support to Venezuela's supposed deification of Chávez at the time when the nation's economy was beginning to worsen and both citizens and the government "need to start reassessing their departed leader and begin thinking critically of the way ahead
..the absolute last thing Venezuelans, or anyone else, needs is more Chávez
agitprop
Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred to ...
". He also questioned Stone's ignorance of what he asserts were lies told straight to his face, and concludes that Stone "needs to evolve".
See also
*''
South of the Border''
References
External links
*
{{Oliver Stone
2014 television films
2014 films
Venezuelan documentary films
Venezuelan television films
2010s Spanish-language films
Films directed by Oliver Stone
Documentary films about Hugo Chávez
2010s English-language films
2014 multilingual films